Lake County

Suburban Chicago Traffic Stop Leads to Over $3M Worth of Marijuana

Searches turned up nearly 600 pounds of cannabis, an AR-15 rifle and a loaded 30-round magazine, three boxes of 20 rounds of ammunition, and $6,861 in cash in a storage unit

The arrest of a man for driving without a valid license and a fake passport led north suburban police to drug busts that yielded over 600 pounds of marijuana with a street value of about $3 million.

Jose Avila-Zumadio, 32, of Guadalajara was stopped for a moving violation about 4:15 p.m. Oct. 7 near Route 134 and Fairlawn in Round Lake Park, according to Round Lake Park police.

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He was eventually arrested for not having a valid license, and while police were inventorying his vehicle, they found 3.25 pounds of marijuana with a street value of about $15,000, and about $1,900 in cash, police said.

Avila-Zumadio, who had a forged Mexican passport, was then charged with felony counts of possession of cannabis, possession with intent to deliver, and forgery, police said.

An investigation into Avila-Zumadio’s activities led to the execution of simultaneous search warrants on Friday by police from Round Lake Park, Round Lake Beach and a Lake County Sheriff’s K-9 Unit.

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Those searches turned up nearly 600 pounds of cannabis, with a street value of about $3 million; an AR-15 rifle with advance sighting and a loaded 30-round magazine; three boxes of 20 rounds of ammunition; and $6,861 in cash in a storage unit in Round Lake Beach, police said.

Maria T. Villa-Mauleon, 30, of the 400 block of Meadow Green in Round Lake Beach was arrested and charged with possession of cannabis with intent to deliver, a Class X felony; possession of cannabis over 5,000 grams, unlawful use of a weapon, possession of a weaon with a valid FOID card, unlawful possesssion of ammunition, and child endangerment, police said.

Villa-Mauleon is being held at Lake County Jail on a $1 million dollar bond, while Avila-Zumadio is being held on $500,000, police said.

The investigation continues.

Copyright CHIST - SunTimes
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